


Snow Spectres

by Imtoolazytodoanything



Series: Phantom Pains [1]
Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Blizzards & Snowstorms, Fai is not having a good night in this, Gen, Hallucinations, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Mild Blood, Some Humor, the ominous cylindrical building he's been stuck in is the least of his problems somehow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:14:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29751171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imtoolazytodoanything/pseuds/Imtoolazytodoanything
Summary: Fai was fine. Sure, they were stuck in a lighthouse as a blizzard loomed in the horizon, but he could manage. He had to.In which there is a snowstorm, cylindrical buildings and bodies in the snow, Fai has a bad day and even worse ghosts to keep at bay, and Syaoran is just trying his best with the situation at hand.
Relationships: Fay D. Fluorite & Li Syaoran
Series: Phantom Pains [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2186646
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Snow Spectres

**Author's Note:**

> "Lighthouses and sailing", "cold temperatures" and "basic physical geography" all overlap on a neat venn diagram of "Things Pau knows nothing about" but that wasn't gonna stop me.

Fai was fine. He really was.

He told so to a worried Sakura, who had turned to him when she had noticed he had been way too silent on their hurried trek to their destination.

Sure, Mokona had thrown them in the middle of a deserted hill shore, snow covering the green below them and clouding the sky. The elevation was low enough for the biggest waves to hit violently over the hill. Clearly, a storm was fast on its way.

A blizzard, more likely. It was freezing. 

He could feel the cold getting through his skin, his usual attire not enough to fend it off completely. His coat would suffice, but he had given it to Sakura, who didn’t have more than her clow regalia, clearly meant for summer. 

Fai didn’t mind cold temperatures. He  _ shouldn’t  _ mind cold temperatures. He had lived in them all his life. He tried to convince himself of that, even if he knew that ever since he started dimension-hopping, snow had been making his chest compress in a way that had nothing to do with the cold.

“If you’re fine, hurry the fuck up.” Kurogane’s gruff command brought him back to the present. Huh, he hadn’t realized he had spaced out. Nor that he had slowed down. “The lighthouse is close by now.”

Fai hurried his step, shortening the gap that had formed between him and the group without him noticing. He swallowed at the reminder of the lighthouse. Because of course it couldn’t be any other type of building. He shivered, this time not from the cold wind slapping him in the face.  _ Cursed indeed _ .

Fai forced his mind to stop spiralling as he noticed Kurogane sending suspect glances in his direction, his weird behaviour clearly noticed. If he had to be stuck in that building in the middle of a blizzard with a suspicious ninja drilling questions into him, he was going to tear his skin off. 

“Kuro-pii is so grumpy!” He whined, pleased when his pitch came high and childish as he wanted it. If it was a bit muffled, he could blame the freezing wind. “I’m coming!” 

This seemed to relax the kids and Mokona at least, who all stared back ahead. Kurogane didn’t look convinced but he also turned back with a simple grunt. 

Fai kept an eye on him anyway, mostly as a precaution but also because if he didn’t look at him or the floor he would have to actually look at the lighthouse. If he didn’t see it, it couldn’t affect him.

He could notice it was turned off, judging by the darkness of the place. Their step was only being illuminated by the moon, half-hidden between dark clouds. It probably meant it was abandoned. Fai didn’t know if that made him feel better or worse. 

He concentrated on the group instead. Kurogane was on the lead; heavy, fast steps forcing his way through snow and wind. Syaoran was right behind him, with Mokona snuggled in his cloak and his left hand holding Sakura’s arm over the oversized cloak. 

They finally made it to the lighthouse, and luckily for Fai, Kurogane made quick work of the old wooden door. He swallowed in relief, not wanting to spend more time than necessary staring at white cement over a snow carpet. 

The place was pitch black, which further cemented the place as abandoned. But it was warmer than it had been outside, even if Fai’s chest refused to acknowledge it. 

“Mokona, do we have anything to illuminate?” Syaoran’s voice came somewhere to his left. 

Mokona opened her mouth to spit out a flashlight. Syaoran turned it on to reveal a small kitchen, dark blue appliances against a faded sky-blue paint. The rock floor as well as the kitchen were covered in dust and spider webs. Everything Fai could see was littered with signs of water damage: dark damp patches on the walls, corroded paint on the counters. 

It was quite obvious no one had been there in a while. Despite that, it was warm and it wasn’t completely destroyed as Fai had faintly feared, so it would do for the night. 

The metal spiral stairs that led to the upper rooms were very corroded but they still supported their weight. Upstairs there was a rather dingily bathroom and a bedroom two old beds and one beat-up mattress that still looked usable. 

They put themselves to work, cleaning up the place. Sakura found candles in one of the kitchen’s cabinets, which made the night ahead look relatively more bearable. Fai submerged himself into the cleaning work, trying to drown out the hissing sounds of the wind wrecking against the old windows.

They checked the lantern room, only to confirm that the lens had been smashed beyond repair. It explained the abandonment of the place. The town the building belonged to likely didn’t have the money to fix it. 

Once the group made the place as hospitable as they could, they tried to settle for the night. After some arguing from both parties, Syaoran managed to pick the first lookout shift for himself. Sakura was long asleep on the bed, Mokona snuggled agaisnt her and Kurogane resting on the wall nearby. 

Fai, unsurprisingly, wasn’t tired. The cold was a lot more bearable there, but it still tickled his insides uncomfortably. The walls of the room had barely any paint on, leaving them almost dirty grey. His mind couldn't help but drift, wondering if it was similar to the sight Fai would have—

He shock his head violently, trying to physically eject the memories from his head. No point thinking of ghosts so close to a cementery. Seeing as sleep probably wasn't happening tonight, Fai slowly made his way up to the lantern room, careful not to alert Kurogane. Well, he supposed that it was a futile effort considering who he was dealing with, but he had faint hope that he could at least make his actions look less suspicious.

Maybe. Look, he wasn’t having a good fucking night, so he was going to count the fact that Kurogane didn’t seem to stir from his slumber while he climbed up the old stairs as a win. 

The place was cramped as it was, with barely enough room for one person, but Fai wasn’t up there to get comfortable. He perched himself on the railings of the stone platform, looking at the sea below him. He concentrated on the ongoing storm: The water was hitting the shore with vigor now, and the slow but steady falling of snow was slowly tainting everything white. 

Slowly and deliberately, Fai started to drift his mind into a middle ground, away from the sharp edges of his memory. The scenery in front of him was helping in a twisted way. The snow falling outside and the faint chills still running through his body reminded him of Celes, and the sea in front of him was different enough not to remind him  _ too much _ of Celes. 

Perched on its highest point and surrounded by glass, he couldn’t really see the shape of the lighthouse. The ghosts he was really afraid would show were kept at bay.

He thanked whatever luck he had left that it was a full moon day, and that this universe had a moon in the first place. It was still obscured by the clouds and snow, but it shone enough so Fai could make out the shape of the sea and the inside of the lantern room. Nevertheless, he had brought a candle with him. There was the possibility of the blizzard getting worse making the clouds swallow the moon and its light out. If he wanted to last the night, he couldn’t get stuck in this place with darkness and cold as his heavy, unwanted coats. 

It was sort of peaceful for a while, his mind not quite grounded but also not going haywire on him. The entire gallery outside the lantern room was painted a grimly white. 

His luck ran out when the storm finally reached the point where the moon was no longer visible. Fai was able to snap himself out of his lethargy to light the candle, fending the darkness off of him. He hastily placed it on the broken pedestal, managing to illuminate the small room again.

The light of the candle was only enough to brighten himself and his immediate surroundings, the rest of the room quickly swallowed by darkness. Fai felt his throat constrict at the dark, his hands twitching to the floor and scratching in phantom movements at the stone bricks in front of him-

He swallowed hard, removing his hands from the ruggedly metal floor and crawling forward, placing them on the storm panels instead. It was freezing to the touch, but it was smooth and not uneven in that way that made his fingers twitch. 

He could go back down, as the other’s presence would undoubtedly help with the ghosts that his brain was trying to push behind his eyelids, but his body seemed to be frozen in place. A burst of wind hit the panels behind him and he jumped, half expecting to see his king appearing to take him back. He breathed hard and slow, resting his forehead against bitterly cold glass.

_ Don’t let Kurogane come up now _ , he begged any deity hearing him as if those didn’t likely find his suffering amusing. He certainly looked suspicious, hands and forehead planted against cold glass like a man serving time in a tower. 

The only small retrieve was the fact that enough moonlight was left to make the shape of the sea and shore still somewhat visible. Fai managed to put himself into a numb trance, his eyes following the violent waves in and out of the water. 

Too busy trying to drown his own head, he almost didn’t notice that the wind eased down but the snow storm had picked up with a vengeance, the sight outside now looking as if behind a moving white net.

Fai could hardly make out anything, so he was almost jolted out of the platform when a thunderous  _ clank _ from below echoed through the room. 

Once he got back to his senses, he squinted through the storm panels, trying to locate the cause of the noise over the thick layer of snow still falling relentlessly from the sky.

Fai found it. From the angle he was in he could just barely make out the dark shape of a boat lying sideways against the rock. A thin thread of dread filled over him as he figured out the rest. The storm was still relentless and the lighthouse wasn’t working. They must have missed the shore entirely until it was too late.

_ There may be survivors _ , a voice so used to rescue people from snow accidents belited him when he stayed frozen in place. He couldn’t suppress the snarl. It was none of his business, he wasn’t in Celes anymore. Even if he were, there was no one else to save there either. 

_ (Sorry, sorry. Ashura-ou, plea—) _

Fai shook his head again, swallowing the bile that had crept up his throat. With limbs that weren’t quite answering properly, he started to make his way to the stairs. This had  got out of control, and he could ground himself ins—

His hand brushed against a doorknob. It was the door to the gallery. The damn outdated voice might as well be screaming at him to open it and check. 

He took one last longing look at the stairs leading to safety, and pushed the door open before his mind could catch up to him. 

Biting cold met him seconds after. The sharp breeze felt like knives cutting into his uncovered face and neck, his sleeved uniform barely keeping the worst of it out of his limbs. Snow was already webbing into his hair. 

He pushed his feet through the thick layer of snow that was already covering the gallery and held onto the railing, trying to make out more from the outside. 

It was still so dark, and the candle must have died out when he opened the door, so he only had the faint light of the still-hidden moon to help him make out anything. 

What he could see of the boat didn’t telegraph anything good. it seemed to be small, a fishing boat at most. The way it was lying on its side wouldn’t be possible if the boat were still whole. The port and at least half the deck had to be smashed in. Sharp rock edges had pierced through the cabin. Deceptively strong waves kept washing over the wreck, as if the water was trying to swallow the evidence away.

If anyone survived that, they would be injured enough for the snow and freezing water to finish the job in minutes. 

A sudden burst of light from below pulled him out of his calculations. The ship was suddenly being illuminated by what Fai belatedly recognized as a flashlight. Under the new light, the carnage looked even worse. He could also make out lumps at the edge of the hill where the ship had ended up. If they were crewmates who managed to drag themselves out or bodies that were ejected out of the ship during the crash, he couldn’t tell. 

He drifted his attention back to the source of the lights, and felt his breath catch in his throat. Fai had assumed the others had heard the noise and Kurogane went down to investigate. But it wasn’t Kurogane, because he wasn’t the one on lookout today. 

There, running through the unstable terrain towards the wreck, was Syaoran. 

Dread washed over his bones, achingly cold in a way that made the storm seem tame in comparison. Syaoran meant well, probably heard the noise and had the same idea as him, except with none of his hesitation because the boy never hesitated to help people.

But as travelled as he was, he was a desert child. Fai knew deserts to be bitterly cold at night but they didn’t have enough water for snow to fall, and snow was its own entity altogether. Yet there he was,  _ running  _ through the trickery, unforgiving white terrain with only his  _ coat as cover.  _ Fai’s own clothes weren’t enough for this kind of weather, and they were made for winter. 

Even if his feelings about it had been repeatedly tainted by grief, Fai still respected the snow. He knew how easy it was for it to turn its claws on you, if you underestimated it. Syaoran was headed to the shore in  _ the middle of _ the still-raging storm, for heavens’ sake. 

He sprinted back to the stairs, fear fueling his hasted steps. He didn’t bother calling for him, the hissing of the wind enough to drown his voice completely even if he tried. 

His demons had been edging on the edge of his brain for too long before the sudden adrenaline hit, which made his surroundings fussy and shifting. His body couldn’t separate new dread from old, and as he made his way down the stairway he kept dodging bodies he knew weren’t there. 

He wasn’t sure whether he woke the others in his haste or not, though he was leaning towards the former judging by the protesting sounds of the metal stairs and the trail of snow he left at his wake. He had no way of telling either way, as his mind was too busy trying to remind his legs, currently stuck in a different cold night, that they were going  _ down  _ the stairs, not up. 

His mind only barely registered the slow, heavy pull of the door before he was slapped by the unforgiving wind once again. He had made his way out so fast his body hadn’t had the time to soak in the warmth of the building before going out again. 

He pushed through the chill wrecking his body, quickly but carefully following the kid’s footsteps. A loud slam from behind him startled him and almost made him lose his balance, but he recovered. 

“Syaoran-kun!” He screamed when the figure and only light source on the shore came into view. He faintly noted his voice sounded hoarse already.

Syaoran turned and got up from where he was inspecting one of the bodies at the edge of the hill, too brusquely to Fai’s liking. The hill wasn’t that tall, but it was still a good two meters, and the rocky slope was completely swallowed by strong, cold waves.

Even if a fall from that height wasn’t fatal, being in contact with the freezing water sure would be. He closed the distance between them in long steps, just in time to grab Syaoran’s arm and yank them both out of the way of a particularly tall wave that broke just above the hill. 

Some water still splashed over them, and Fai dimly noted he couldn’t feel the water that hit his face.  _ That’s bad _ , the part of his brain that wasn’t spinning pointed out.

“What were you thinking?” He snapped, turning a still-startled Syaoran to face him. His tone was bordering on hysteric, but for once he did not care. “You will catch your death out here in those clothes.” 

“Sorry.” Syaoran mumbled. He didn’t look like he had heard Fai at all, but rather he had answered automatically at his tone of voice. He was shaking a lot, Fai noted. That was also bad, but still better than no shaking at all. They still had some time. 

“Kid, we need to go back inside.” He said as he started manhandling Syaoran back to the lighthouse.  _ Five minutes in the cold and I turn into Kurogane _ , he noticed, letting out a hysterical chuckle. What a fucking night. 

Fai tried to make out the shape of the lighthouse over all the snow and wind cutting through his vision. Syaoran had yet to move though, even with Fai’s efforts. His eyes were fixated on the bodies in front of them.

“They must have landed on the shore when the crash...they’re…” Syaoran whispered, sadness coating his tone even through his clattering teeth. 

“I promise we can bury them if you want, once the storm is over, now we need to go inside.”

While trying to get Syaoran to move, he risked a glance at the corpses. It was a mistake. 

The sailors’ bodies had gone pale from the cold, their still bodies blending with the snow around them. One of them had hit their head, and a frozen halo of coagulated blood now tainted the snow around them. It was a familiar sight, one that had burned into his retinas both a lifetime and not so long ago. 

He staggered back, his mind swirling around both familiar and unknown sights, unable to tell which was real and which a phantom. The wind was biting his exposed neck, the snow in his hair was making his head heavy, and the pounding of his heart kept warning him of a danger he couldn’t place.

He blinked heavily, the sight of dried blood and coats with familiar patterns welcomed him once he opened his eyes again. His breath hitched.

“Fai-san?” Asked a panicked voice behind him, making him realize he was holding something. Someone.

He tightened his grip, feeling a fast pulse even below his glove and the other cloth. They were alive, but they wouldn’t be for long if Fai didn’t do something. 

He kept glancing at the shore, eyes darting from side to side looking for the threat. He couldn’t remember what the threat  _ was _ . 

The voice from before said something in a gentle tone.  _ Ashura _ , his mind screamed.  _ Ashura is here _ . And so were the bodies in the snow and he needed to talk to him, needed to stop him, needed to  _ run - _

A sharp tug on his arm brought him out of his panic. Right, the person with him. They were still alive, and he could keep them alive, he would keep them away from Ashura, and no one else had to die. 

It was so  _ cold _ . Where was his coat? Where was his  _ staff _ ? He wasn’t as powerful as Ashura, not with all the carnage he had tainted his own halls with ( _ He didn’t want to fight him, Ashura please _ -)  His limbs felt disconnected from his body, even though he could faintly see them shaking. He couldn’t make out the palace anymore. Where was he? 

Something was wrong, the situation didn’t quite make sense, but he couldn’t try and catalogue what was wrong as his head felt heavy and constricting on his skull. 

The hand grabbing him started to push him, and he went with the motion. They needed to get  _ away _ . The voice was still speaking in that soothing tone, but he could only picture a warm smile with fangs covered in blood. 

Hands turned him around, and suddenly he was looking at a tower. 

There it was, white stone bricks covered in mudded snow, every bit as imposing as it was when he was a kid. Ashura had caught up with him, and he wasn't dragging him back to Celes, no, he was dragging him back _here_ , where he shouldn't have ever left, where he should have rotted in.He wished he could face it with dignity, but fear was crawling up his spine and he was so ready to beg Ashura to get him out, _please, anything but this_

There was something off about it, the proportions weren’t quite right, but the sight made his stomach curl and his inside freeze.  


Maybe that was just the cold though. He was  _ freezing _ . 

He planted his feet on the ground, almost making both of them lose their balance. Bile crept up his throat,  _ no, no, this couldn't be happening, he was supposed to be away, Ashura please sorry don’t - _

The hands kept pushing through, and he soon found himself in front of the damn thing. Now that he saw it closely, the wrongness of it became more apparent, but he still couldn’t place the specifics. 

Between a heavy blink and another, he was sitting on the floor, his back against the tower and something covering his neck and half his face. There was someone in front of him, still speaking in that damned soft tone, only now it had the distinct edge of panic to coat over the painful sweetness. Fai chided himself, the person was scared, and he was  _ happy about it _ . He deserved it, deserved the tower, deserved to  _ die instead _ -

The hands left him. He binked. His own hands found the wall, starting to scratch almost on instinct. His whole body was braced for something, but he couldn’t even tell for what and he was so tired...

He didn't know how long he sat there, body stiff as a statue, waiting for the worst to come. Fai would call this the worst, but experience had taught him the worst was a bottomless pit that could always go lower.

A loud pounding noise made him jump out of his skin. He closed his eyes and covered his ears with his hands, trying to drown the sickening sound of bodies hitting the floor. 

The noises weren’t...right, though. And he was sure he could faintly make out voices over the hissing wind and the ringing in his ears. There shouldn't be voices. It had been just the two of them and the corpses, and now it should be just him. He opened his eyes, noticing a familiar moss green coat around him. The color contrasted oddly to the ghostly blues of his memory. 

He blinked again, his eyes more focused than they had felt in...whatever amount of time he had been out. Upon closer inspection, the surface he was scratching on was a lot smoother than he remembered the tower ever being, and he couldn’t trace the outlines of bricks. _Ashura wasn't_ _here_. He wasn't a hundred percent sure of how he knew that, but it was obvious now.  


As if awakened of a trance, the string of events of the nights slowly made his way back to him. The lighthouse, the storm, Syaoran -

_ Syaoran _ .

He was wearing Syaoran’s coat. That meant Syaoran wasn’t wearing Syaoran’s coat. His whole body was already going numb, he didn’t want to consider what it must be like for the kid. God, did he have that sleeveless shirt on? Forget being on a timer, Syaoran was running on  _ seconds _ if he didn’t get him somewhere warm soon.

With herculean effort, he got up and made his way to the source of the noises, using the wall as support. His muscles could barely support his weight, but he was running on fear and indignation alike, he should be fine.

He found Syaoran fidgeting with the doorknob of the building’s door, trembling like a leaf but so clearly alive that Fai almost sagged with relief. He noted delightfully that the kid was in fact wearing a green wool sweater. It didn’t look like it was a very thick sweater, but it was miles better than having his arms exposed to the snow. 

There was pounding coming from the other side, and now Fai could place the sound as something heavy knocking on solid wood. He could also make out some faint cursing. 

He stomped his way to Syaoran, dropping the coat on him more harshly than necessary. Syaoran yelped, momentarily startled, but his face lighted up with cautious hope when he recognized him.

“Fai-san?” The kid asked, wary . “A-re you feeling better?” 

Fai recalled the vivid flashbacks he had just had, realizing who had been manhandling him from place to place. He felt a pang of guilt for making the kid deal with him on top of the hypothermia they both were clearly too deep into.  


He was about to apologize, but anger took the helm of his words and all that came out was: “What on earth were you doing, taking your coat off?”

His voice was still too hoarse, his teeth clattering together almost painfully. Why weren’t they inside already?

Syaoran looked almost offended at his question. 

“You were hardly moving at all and I thought you were going into shock .” Syaoran explained easily, like he was somehow immune to the weather and would suffer no consequences for shedding off half of his only protection against the cold. 

Fai could see the consequences clearly, now that he had the kid in front of him. His skin was three shades paler and his lips were starting to turn blue. He was shaking like crazy, and he didn’t look much more in control of his body than Fai felt. He brought him closer to him, trying to share some of his almost non-existent warmth.

“That was still reckle -”

“You weren’t answering!” Syaoran interrupted, startling both of them before he continued, voice raising three octaves with panic, “ you  _ froze  _ all of sudden and you weren’t listening to me and the door was stuck and I didn’t know what to do!” 

_ Oh, baby _ . Fai trapped the boy into a tight hug, resting his head against his snow-covered hair. 

"I'm sorry, " the boy murmured sheepishly. "I didn't mean to yell." 

“It’s ok. I’m sorry, you did fine.” He murmured as Syaoran grabbed fistfuls of his uniform. 

“I thought you were dying.” Syaoran muttered painfully, his voice seemingly gone after his sudden burst of screaming. 

“Kid! Are you still there?” A loud, muffled voice coming from behind the door — which was a few feet away from them, when had they moved? — got them both out of the trance. 

_ Kurogane _ , Fai thought excitedly. After the phantom voices whispering sweetly in his eardrums, the ninja’s harsh, angry tone was like music for his ears. 

“Yes!” Syaoran answered as loud as he could. “Fai-san seems to be better now!” 

Fai paused, remembering their situation once again. Gods, he really wasn’t tracking well. He went through what Syaoran had said in his tirade, stopping in a concerning bit.

“The door is stuck?” He asked a bit dumbly because you  _ have got to be kidding him _ .

Syaoran cringed under his arms, and that was answer enough. 

“The wind must have shut it, and then the snow and water froze the hinges and now we can’t pry it open.” The kid explained. 

“ _ Ha _ .” He half mumbled, half laughed.  _ hahahhaha.  _

Syaoran was looking at him oddly again. He must be chuckling out loud.  _ Cut it out, you’re scaring the child _ , he tried to tell himself, but he couldn’t think over this being fucking hilarious. 

Kurogane and Sakura were locked in, Syaoran and him were locked out.  _ Of course _ . The night couldn’t have ended any other way. 

“Is he  _ laughing _ ?” Kurogane’s incredulous voice asked from behind the door. Syaoran nodded, seemingly too confused himself to remember the man couldn’t see him. 

“How’s the door going, Kuro-tan?” He asked, voice as airy as his throat could make it. 

“So you decided to come back to the living.” The ninja grumbled in lieu of an answer. “It’s no use. I’m going to have to tear it down. Try not to freeze for a few more minutes.” 

“Sounds good!” Fai sing-sang. He then proceeded to collapse against the cement wall right beside the door, taking a confused Syaoran down with him. 

“Fai-san?” Syaoran practically shrieked, as Fai covered them both with the boy’s coat, adjusting the kid in his lap. 

The kid lied still for a moment, before melting into the embrace. Fai was back to his easy smile, making small whistle-like sounds. Syaoran was looking at him like he was insane. He was cute. He wondered if the blush on his cheeks was due to the cold or the position he had forced him in. It was cute, either way.

“Shhh, Kuro-worry is breaking down the door. We gotta huddle close so we don’t freeze.” He explained at last, pressing the boy closer to his chest.

“...you shouldn’t…” A small, puppy yawn, “ fall asleep, Fai-san.” 

Huh, he hadn’t realized he had closed his eyes. He opened them, only to see the shipwreck and the bodies’ outlines in the near distance.  _ Nope.  _ He closed them again, concentrating in the living, shaking body against him.

“I-tt is a solid wood door.” Syaoran commented, his voice also taking the same faraway tone that Fai’s had. “he can’t k-kick it out of its hinges.” 

“Oh, he’ll figure it out.” Fai dismissed it.

Fai dimly noted it wasn’t snowing anymore. Huh, good. He concentrated in Syaoran’s short breaths, letting them ground him away from deserted towers and bloodied palaces.

The echoing sound of heavy wood hitting the ground would have startled him if he were capable of moving. Turns out Kurogane  _ could  _ knock a solid wood door out of its hinges.  _ Hot _ .

Between one blink and the next, strong arms were trying to pry Syaoran away from him. 

“Nooo.” He whined, pulling him back. The kid was warm. Well, not warm, both their skins probably hurt to touch, but they were warmer together.  “ _ No.”  _ Sharper, wondering if Ashura was there after all.

“Let him go, idiot, we need to get you both outside.” The voice was too gruff to be Ashura’s so they were good. He trusted the voice.

Syaoran was taken out of his hands, but the warmth was replaced with something even warmer on his face. He could recognize a person, and was that his coat? He had missed his coat.

“Fai-san?” The voice was sweet, but not bad sweet. Warm, like summer. 

He thought he heard some movement and heavy fabric moving. Then, a shout:

“Princess, you get a single limb out of that coat while still out here and I’m hurling you back inside.” 

“Give Syaoran-kun to me, I think Fai-san isn’t conscious anymore.” The summerly voice argued. 

Angry voice grumbled, but summer seemed to win because he found himself being scoped out by strong arms. He huddled closer before slipping into oblivion

* * *

Fai woke up only to quickly wish he hadn’t.  _ Everything  _ hurt, as if he had gone against a particularly powerful wind curse. His body felt cold, sore and useless, and his head was  _ killing him _ . A bit belatedly, he noticed that he had a lot of clothes in him. Even more belatedly, he noticed a smaller body curled against his side. 

He pried an eye open, and was met with familiar chestnut hair. As if Syaoran was the missing piece of a puzzle, the events of the day rushed to him in a violent wave.  _ Ugh _ .

“Ugh.” 

“Fai is awake!” A happy,  _ loud _ voice exclaimed way too close to his ear. He groaned again.

“Mokona, keep it down please.” He managed to whisper before closing his eyes again.

“Don’t fall asleep again, I’m still not sure either of you are out of death’s door.” Kurogane chastised from somewhere to his left. 

“How are you feeling?” Syaoran asked and oh, he was awake too.

“Like I just got mauled by the weather.” 

“Indeed” Syaoran chuckled. 

Fai opened his eyes again, and noticed they were both lying in the bed, covered in various sweaters, his coat thrown over them both. 

“I’m glad you’re both awake.” Sakura said as she entered the room, carrying an empty bowl with her. 

Her small frame was completely dwarfed by Kurogane’s black coat. At least they had replaced his coat with something. Behind her came Kurogane, clad only in a beige knit sweater. 

“We’re warming up some water in the tub so you guys can recover some warmth.” Kurogane explained. 

“Don’t make it too hot or it will be worse, Kuro-nurse.” Fai managed to warn. 

Kurogane grunted, but otherwise didn’t raise to the bait. Instead, he sat on a stool in front of the bed, glaring daggers at them.

“Mind telling me  _ what the fuck where you guys thinking _ .” 

Fai felt Syaoran stiffen under his arms. Oh boy, this was going to be a long one, wasn’t it.

“Kurogane-san, I think they’re still too out of it for a scolding.” Their saviour advised, already going down the stairs, presumably to get more water. 

“Maybe so. We better make sure they don’t die first.”

Sakura nodded, and then added: “Besides, the message is sure to stick better if they’re fully conscious.” 

There wasn’t anything unusual in her tone, but the finality in her voice made them  _ both  _ stiffen. Kurogane must have caught it too, because he gave them both a sadistic grin before following after her. 

“Wahh, we’re in trouble ~” He whined, resting his head against Syaoran’s.

“We just scared them.” Syaoran contended, and there was something else in there. 

Fai recalled the situation with a clearer mind, how he had checked out and left the poor kid to fend for both of them in a distressing situation. Guilt coated over him uncomfortably. What help he was. 

“I’m sorry, for back there.” he admitted, letting honestly slip through his words for once. 

Syaoran turned around and Fai found himself face to face with the kid. His color was looking better, but he was still too pale for Fai’s liking. His eyes shone with different emotions, before a tiny smile settled on his face. 

“Say  _ thank you  _ instead.” 

“Huh?”

“Uh, it’s nothing. Just something ...someone important used to say.” Syaoran explained, suddenly unsure. “If you feel bad or like you caused trouble for someone, it is better to say  _ thank you _ for helping you than  _ sorry _ for being a burden.” 

He thought of Syaoran and his propensity to feel like taking too much space, and his continuous apologies. This must be a hard lesson for him to assimilate, and Fai felt endeared that he felt him worthy of sharing it. 

“Ok,  _ Thank you _ for dealing with me back there.” 

“ _ You’re welcome _ and  _ thank you  _ for keeping me warm.” 

Syaoran’s smile was incredibly sweet and Fai found himself matching it. These kids really should smile like this more often.

The moment was broken by the others coming back to the room. Mokona nested himself between the two, kissing both their noses. The bed creaked slightly under the added weight of the princess, who snuggled against a suddenly very awake and  _ very  _ flustered Syaoran. Turns out his blood could flow just fine even while several degrees under the weather.

Fai’s enjoyment of the flustered boy was short lived, when the mattress dipped dangerously low because a heavy body joining on his right. What?

“The water will take a while, and you guys are still popsicles.” Kurogane explained as he hurdled closer to him. 

Even though he was trying to be oh so dignified about it, Fai could tell he was avoiding looking anywhere near Fai’s face. Fai would have found that a beautiful teasing minefield at any other time, but he was still exhausted and confused, and Kurogane was a human heater. 

Fai closed his eyes, and snuggled closer to his mismatched group. His body still felt cold, but he noted that the phantom cold that had lifted from his bones.    
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I know I was focusing on Fai's bad day here, but take a second to appreciate poor Syaoran, who tried to help a bunch of sailors only to end up with corpses at his feet, had to fend off hypothermia and deal with a thoroughly checked-out and disorientated Fai pulling 3 different 180s in a time-lapse of about 20 minutes. He deserves a break.


End file.
